That he has been talked about in NHL circles for years is somewhat remarkable: Tuukka Rask may be a former first-round draft choice who has built a sparkling professional resume, but he has also only tended goal in five NHL games.

This season, that’s supposed to change. After two full years of development in the American Hockey League, which followed the two pro seasons he played as a teenager in Finland, Rask is expected to exit “Coming Soon” status to celebrate something like a coming-out party.

Don’t tell that to Bruins head coach Claude Julien, though, or to free-agent acquisition Dany Sabourin. In fact, even Rask knows he’s not going to take up permanent residence in the stall next to No. 1 goalie Tim Thomas just because everything seems to add up.

“Nothing’s going to be handed to anybody,” Rask said before leaving for Toronto to back up Sabourin in Wednesday night’s preseason game against the Maple Leafs. “That’s the only guarantee. You’ve got to earn your spot. That’s as simple as it is. If you’re not good enough, you don’t deserve it.”

Rask, 22, is off to a more than a good enough start. He played all of Tuesday’s pre-season opener against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, and made 31 saves in Boston’s 2-1 victory.

“Kind of a weird game,” Rask said. “First period, almost no shots (five) at all. Then, in the second and third, they just kept coming. It was a good way to start the season.”

Rask began in similar fashion last year, too. Statistically the Bruins’ best goalie in preseason, he was ultimately the victim of factors beyond his control: Boston already had a proven, and expensive No. 2 goalie in Manny Fernandez, and if the B’s were going to pay big money to a goalie to play in Providence – and Rask, whom the Leafs drafted 21st overall in 2005 and traded to Boston for Andrew Raycroft a year later, had a contract with first-round salary and bonus clauses – they were going to pay it to a kid like Rask, who needed as much work as he could get.

It wasn’t easy for Rask to swallow the concept that salary-cap numbers had outweighed his stats, but he digested the news well enough to put up an excellent second season in Providence. Rask played 57 regular-season games (12 more than in his rookie year) and won 33, which ranked second in the AHL. He also went 9-7 in the Calder Cup playoffs, posting a better goals-against average (2.21) in the postseason than his 2.50 regular-season mark.

“That was pretty much the only option I had,” Rask said. “I’d had a great camp, so obviously it was tough to handle (the demotion). It took a couple days, and then I figured ‘I’m here; I might as well do my best to help the team win.’ It’s not easy mentally, but you’ve just got to deal with it.

Page 2 of 2 - “The good thing is, they’ll let you play a lot (in the minors). That was good for me. I played, like, 70 games (73, counting playoffs) or something last year. I really enjoyed that, and I think it was good for me, looking at the years ahead. If I’d been sitting on the bench here, maybe playing 10 games, that probably wouldn’t have been really good for me.”

Sabourin, 29, was signed to give Boston a veteran backup option, and perhaps to push Rask, as well. He has played 57 NHL games, including 43 with the Pittsburgh Penguins over the last two seasons.

“We’ve promised (Sabourin) … a fair chance, and we’re not going to go back on our word when it comes to that,” Julien said. “It’s going to be a competition between (Rask and Sabourin). That’s pretty clear. May the best man win.”

Julien didn’t find a thing wrong with Rask’s game on Monday, praising the goalie’s poise and positioning, among other facets. Like nearly everyone, Rask included, he wishes there was a bit more muscle on Rask’s bones (he’s 6-3, 169 pounds), but said Rask “has done what we’ve asked him to do.”

That includes waiting his turn. Rask went into this training camp believing his time has come.

“You’ve always got to feel that way,” he said. “You’ve always got to feel you’re going to make the team.”